Kendall County Commissioner Chad Carpenter Monday said he will oppose any tax abatement or tax increment reinvestment zone application by a firm wanting to build a battery storage site in Comfort.
Carpenter joined more than 250 people who crammed into the Comfort Middle School auditorium to voice their opposition to Key Capture Energy’s Ringtail Ridge storage facility on 3 acres of an 8-acre plat the company leases along Flat Rock Creek Road off FM 473.
“I’m not going to give you an abatement, if it comes back to (Kendall County Commissioners) court. That will be something I’ll stand firm on,” the Precinct 4 commissioner said, to raucous applause from the standing-room-only crowd.
Standing around the room Monday were all five commission members — County Judge Shane Stolarczyk and commissioners Richard Chapman, Christina Bergmann, Carpenter, and Andrea Wisian — as well as Texas House District 19 Rep. Ellen Troxclair, listening as more than 30 audience members spoke following a 25-minute presentation by Key Capture Energy officials.
Erica Glenn, senior associate with Key Capture Energy, is developer for the Ringtail Ridge Storage facility and opened the meeting. She and five others presented Key Capture’s project specifics, from tax dollars going to schools and Kendall County, to operating procedures, fire and safety operations, monitoring and link to the ERCOT energy grid.
In business since 2016, KCE is touted as an experienced developer, operator and owner of battery storage projects. KCE has 11 projects totaling 580 megawatts in operation or construction, with 1,000 megawatts of planned projects across the state.
Glenn said the Comfort site is an $80 million build that will take 18 months to complete. Electricity will be stored and dealt to the ERCOT grid when electric demand soars.
“Batteries are really the perfect and much-needed solution for this problem of ERCOT needing additional generation,” Glenn said.
The lithium-ion batteries store energy at times of low demand and put the energy back on the grid during high demand.
KCE has a 20-year lease to operate the Comfort site, which was chosen because of its proximity to an LCRA substation in the area.
But Comfort residents peppered the KCR officials with questions and comments about battery safety, fire safety, water table maintenance, and incident response times.
“Obviously you have not studied this community very well,” Comfort resident Amanda Hallmark said. “As for the $6.5-$10 million worth of (property tax) abatements for our schools over 20 years — these people, these old German farmers and ranchers that have been here forever, we’ve got more money than you can even imagine. We don’t give a (expletive) about $200,000 a year to the schools. We don’t care.
“So please don't come here and tell us you’re doing us a favor,” Hallmark added.
“I understand fire protection systems have been upgraded and improved,” Boerne resident Alex Rudd said. “However, anyone knows any system can fail. The more sophisticated and complex the system, the more opportunities there are for system failure.
“I don’t believe Key Capture can guarantee that their fire suppression system will always protect the community,” Rudd added. “We know that technology fails. Even the best technology can fail. This is not the right site for your facility. I ask you to find another location to give our community time to develop a plan.”
When asked what KCE would do if Kendall County Commissioners said no to the tax abatement request, Glenn said KCE “would evaluate the project and look at it from a whole perspective, of, ‘is it worth it?’” Traci Neyland, a property owner in nearby Sisterdale, said a tax abatement for KCE “should be completely off the table.”
“We, the people who have paid county taxes for years with no abatements, do not wish to grant a seven-year period of corporate charity to you,” Neyland said to thunderous applause.
She said KCE’s website prides itself on being a good neighbor. “You cannot pride yourself on being a good neighbor in Kendall County, because your giant hot battery project is not the vision we had for our community, nor the heritage we have worked hard to preserve.
“What other locations are you scouting for your industrial project? Texas is really big; I am confident a better option is out there,” she concluded.
After two hours of comment, Stolarczyk followed Carpenter's statement by explaining the tax increment reinvestment zone and the tax abatement process. He said the commission will not bring a vote on either during its two February meetings, to allow Comfort residents and KCE officials to “do your homework and come back when ready.”
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